Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Lux e Tenebris

“I am concealed with all concealments; when the Most Holy Ancient One is stripped and driven through the marketplace I am still secret and apart.

Whom I love I chastise with many rods.

All things are sacred to me; no thing is sacred from me.

For there is no holiness where I am not.

Fear not when I fall in the fury of the storm; for mine acorns are blown afar by the wind; and verily I shall rise again, and my children about me, so that we shall uplift our forest in Eternity.

Eternity is the storm that covereth me.

I am Existence, the Existence that existeth not save through its own Existence, that is beyond the Existence of Existences, and rooted deeper than the No-Thing-Tree in the Land of No-Thing.”

- Aleister Crowley, Liber A'ash vel Capricorni Pneumatici.

Lately I have been getting a semi-quiet feedback loop of gnashing teeth from individuals all saying the same thing: “I hear you like Jupiter, dawg. Why do you hate Saturn?”

So due to the fact that I never, ever talk about Saturnian astrological magick – and I do mean never! – I figured I'd put these blasphemous thoughts to rest: astrological magick is a system, yes? To simply remove a planet because you don't like what it represents, or don't think it's important (and if you think you can do that, let's not chat at all) is to perhaps blunder into a world of hurt. Suddenly you might become convinced, because of your Jupiterian boons, that something like infinite growth exists. Or like you can't err – ever.

It has been my experience that there are periods where it is best to stop practicing magick – all together – and give it up as a durational oath and test in the name of Saturn. During this period, you specify only specific prayers or meditative sequences which will be allowed (and during which you use to sort your shit, as were) and to make further concrete the things and areas of your life in which you've been attempting to spark growth. Thus, rather than actively practicing magick, you instead simply read or meditate. And now that you've found that man or woman that you love, you take them out to dinner or spend time focusing on them. You focus on your job, and make your commitments to it concrete. If you have kids, you take them out and have a good time with them. You maintain your dream journal. You make sure to pick an hour of Saturn to read that Orphic hymn, or simply meditate on Saturn. You step back and take stock of the situation, effectively.

And then, at the end of the period, you return to your normal practices. Lest all of this sound easy, let me state that it is easier sound than done, and if you've gotten used to active and regular practice, it can be an extremely bitter experience. Saturn has a funny way of kicking all those problems that you were busy ignoring while you were being an amazingly talented (or amazingly modest) magician, and throwing them right on your doorstep.

But in the end, that shit needs to get sorted, too. And ignoring it just tends to make things worse.

If you don't regularly practice and simply dabble, feel free to ignore this entry. You should probably leave Saturn the fuck alone until you've done some other shit. Or just ignore my commentary altogether. What the hell do I know, anyway?

4 comments:

But well said. Part of being a good king is being real and honest about things you observe, about yourself and the world around you. Especially about your relationship to it all.

I cycle through all the planets regularly, and there are force-channeling exercises I do that are related to all the planets. I have relationships with the Seven Governors established in each of the realms.

You really can't ignore one aspect of existence, it's got to be balanced. There's no room for delusion in the Work, though there's ample opportunity.

I like that you point out that there is a natural contraction in our life-work, and that it should be turned and made useful, dedicated to the Old Man. Even our miseries can be made into a sacrifice, and made useful.

Saturn and I go back as well, and I have great respect for his power. He may be the greater malefic, but his pain feels necessary once you've gone through it. Here are my flaws; grind them away!

As someone who is no longer a dabbler but hasn't been at this game as long as many around here, let me re-echo the warning of messing with Saturn too early! Depression can be the least of your worries.

Maybe my experience with Saturn was overdue, then, because it was different than some. In the wake of dealing with its power, I was fine. It's like I got a really good grounding and became more centered. My boundaries became healthier.

Either way, great article, Jack! I'll definitely be dropping in to check out your posts more often.